Mechanical toy



1933- E. F. LEDBETTER 1,932,317

' MECHANICAL TOY Filed Nov. 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l 57726521? leabeifir INVENTOR H25 ATTORNEY.

Oct. 24, 1933. LEDBETTER 1,932,317

MECHANICAL TOY Filed Nov. 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORHIsATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 24, 1933 "PATENT OFFICE MECHANICAL TOY Ernest F.Ledbetter, Chicago, 111'.

Application November 24, 1930 Serial No. 497,903

Claims. (01. 46-40) This invention relates to certain novel 'improvements in mechanical toys and has for its principal object theprovision of an improved construction of this character which will be '5highly efficient in use and economical in manufacture. v

Among the several objects of this invention is to provide a number ofobjects in the character of prizefighters and a referee, whichcharacters .10 are mechanically operated so as to have natural movementin the course of boxing.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists'in the novel combination and arrangement of partsto be hereinafter 15; described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood-by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, showing the preferred form of construction and in which: Fig.1 is a vertical sectional detail view of the invention; v

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the same taken substantially on theline 2-2 on Fig. 1';

Fig. 3 is a fragmentarydetail view of an elevating mechanism embodied inthe invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view. of the, detail shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the mechanism for operating'the arms ofthe prizefighter characters embodied in the invention;

Fig. 6 is an elevational detail view; and Fig.7 is a bottom plan view online 7-7 of Fig. 6. s v 1 Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of thedrawings, a box like structure is indicated at .10 and includes a bottomwall 11 and a top-wall 'i2. The top wall 12 is made removable so as togain access to the interior of the box like structure.

Arranged horizontally in the box like struc-' ture is a partition 13which divides the box like structure into a lower compartment 14 and anupper compartment 15.

Arranged in the lower compartment 15 is a spring motor-16 including awinding key 1'7 and a shaft 18 journaled in bearings 19 provided by thepartition-13 and bottom wall 11. This spring motor includes a drivinggear 20 which meshes with'the gear .21v mounted on a shaft .22 journaled'in bearings .23 provided by the partition 13 and bottom Wall 11. Formedas an integral part of this gear 21 is a gear 24 whichv operativelymeshes with a gear 25 of a smaller ratio. This gear 25 is mounted upon ashaft 26 journaled as at 27 in the bottom wall 11 and projects upwardly,through'a bearing 28 mounted in the partition 13. On the shaft 20adjacent the gear 25 is a gear 29 which operatively meshes with a'gear30 v of a governor mechanism 31, said governor mechanism beingcontrolled in its speed by a control key 32 whereby the speed ofrotation of the shaft 26 may be regulated. Mounted on the shaft 26adjacent the partition l3,is a drive gear '33 which operatively mesheswith a drive gear 34. This drive gear 34 is mounted on a shaft 35carrying an inverted cam 36. This cam'36 is adapted. to, engage ashoulder 37 carried by a collar 38 mounted on a shaft 39 having itslower end of hollow construction. This shaft 39 has telescopicrelationwith a guiding stud 40 mounted upon a bearing plate 41. Mountedon this shaft 39 is a gear 42 which .7 meshes with a gear 43 mounted onthe shaftv 35 and this gear 43 meshes with a gear 44 carried by a shaft45 journaled in a suitable bracket 46 carried by the side wall 47 of thebox like structure 10.

Mounted on the shaft 39 are spaced collars 48 which provide a groovetherebetween and mesh ing withthis groove is a bifurcated end 50 of arocker arm 51, which rocker arm has a central, opening 52 formedtherein. The upper endportion of shaft 39 provides a lift rod 53 whichprojects upwardly through a slotted opening 54 formedin the top wall 12.

An objectisindicated at 55 in the character of aprizefighter andincludes thigh portions 56 piv- 5 otally connected to the body 57 as at58. To these thigh portions are pivotally connected the legs 59 as at60. Pivotally connected to the body in a manner to be hereinafterdescribed are arm members 61. The lifting rod 53 projects up-- wardlyinto the body 57 of the character and is secured for rotation therein bymeans of a bracket 62. The upper end of this lift rod has securedthereto a bevel gear 63 which operatively meshes with-a bevel gear 64carried by a shaft 65 journaled in brackets 66 secured within the body57. The ends of this shaft 65 carry gears 67 which operatively mesh withgears 68 mounted on shafts 69 journaled in suitable bushings 70 and 71,the bushing 71 being fixed to the shaft 69 and forming the pivotalconnection between the body 57 and the arm 61.

The shaft 45 has secured thereto a link 72 which is pivotally connectedas at 73 to adjacent end portions of curved arms 74 and 75. The 5 curvedarm 74 has one end portion pivotally connected as at 76 to one of thefeet 77. of the legs 59. This pivotal connection 76 is'to a peg 118which -may be provided at its upper end with a head 119 movable in aslot 122 to permit movement of- ,by a shaft.92.

the leg '77 thereon, or this may be accomplished in any conventionalmanner. The opposite end of the arm '75 is pivotally connected as at 78to a curved arm 79 which in turn is pivotally connected as at 80 to acurved arm 81 which is pivotally connected as at 82 to the foot 83 ofone of the leg portions 84 of an object 85 inthe character of aprizefighter which is'constructed substantially similar to the character5'71 The pivotal connection 82 is made to a peg 120 which may beprovided at its upper end with a head 121 movable in a slot such as 122to permit movement of leg 83 thereon; The connected end portions of thearms 79 and 81 are pivotally connected to one end of a link 86 which ispivotallyconnected to a shaft 87 journaled in a bracket 88 secured tothe side wall 89 of the box like structure 10. This shaft 87 at itslower end carries a gear 90 which operatively meshes with the gear 91carried Ths shaft 92 carries an inverted cam 93. v The lower end of thisshaft 92 carries a gear Qiwhich operatively meshes with the gear 33.This cam 93is adapted to operative-1y engage a shoulder 11'? mounted ona collar 95 carriedby, a shaft 96. This shaft 96 is hollow in structureand hastelescopic engagement with a guiding stud 97. The shaftcarriesspaced collars 98 to provide a groove in which engages the bifurcatedend 99 of the rocker arm 51. The upper end portion of the shaft 96provides a lifting rod 100 which projects up into the character8l and isoperativelyfconnected with arm moving'mechanism substantially similar tothe arm moving mechanism described inreference to Fig. 5 of thedrawings, it being pointed out that like reference characters toindicate the parts illustrated in ,Fig. 5 are applicable to the elementscomprising the arm moving mechanism of thecharacter 85.

The pivotal connection '78 is in the form of a shaft 101 whichprojectsupwardly into one of the feet of an object 102in thecharacter-of a referee, a shaft 109 projecting into the character 102and suitable 'mechanismis provided similar 'to'the mechanism illustratedin Fig. 5 to move the arm 103 of the referee in-count like action.

The upper end portions of the shafts 35"and 92 are journaled'in'a plate104 which carries bevel idler gears 105 operatively meshing with a bevelgear 106. The upper extremity of shaft 26 carries a gear 10'?which'floa'ts on the round portion of shaft 26 and meshes with a gear108 mounted on a shaft 109 which projects upwardly'through a slot in thetop wall 12 andinto the character 102. A clutch arrangement 110 isprovided which includes a clutch cap 111 which is mounted on a squaredportion of shaft 26 and isadapted to have frictional engagement with aclutch face 112 provided on a hub 113 provided by the gear 10'7. Thiscap provides astud 114 which projects through the opening 52 of therocker arm 51.

As shown in Fig. 3'of the drawings there are arranged in the hollowportion of the shafts 39 and 96 cushion springs 1 15 whereby'to absorbthe shock of the shafts 39 and 96 when the same are rolled. r

The operation of the device is as follows: Upon operation of theshaft'26 by action of the spring motor-'16 theshafts -35 and-92 will becaused to rotate and likewise thes'haft 26. As-

the shaft'35 rotates the cam'36 will'engage the shoulder 37 and move theshaft 53 downwardly.

,As this shaft 53'ismoved downwardly the shaft 4.5 will be causedto'rotate and rotate the arm-'72 in the direction of 'thearrow'l16,Asthis arm 72 moves inthis direction the arm '74 will be and the raisingof caused likewise to follow the direction of movement of thisarm andconsequently pivot the leg portion 59 backwardly so that when the shaft39 is in its lowermost position by action of the cam 36 and collar 3'7the character will be in a kneeling position such as is illustrated bythe left hand character 85. At other points of operation of the arms 75and '79the characterswill be moved by pivotal movement of these armsinto a clinching position and at that time the object representing thereferee will move toward the characters in a manner which will indicatethat the referee char-" acter is endeavoring to part the fighters, theturning movement of the referee character being effected by the actionof arms '75 and-79 on shaft 101. Upon retraction of the refereecharacter the prizefighters the arms will pivot so as to bring thesecharacters in standing position with the arms operating as though onecharacter is striking the other character. The movement of the variouscharacters in their particular place can be readily understood by"following the movement of the link and curved arm members illustrated inFig. 2 of the drawings. As the shafts 39 and 96 are alternately movedE100 up and down, the rocker arm 51 engages and dis-. engages the clutchcap' lll from the clutch face 112 of gear 107, thereby at one timecausing gear 107-to rotate with clutch cap 11 and in turn to rotategear108 and shaft 109, which controls the (.16 arm moving mechanism ofreferees arm 103, while when the clutch cap 111 is disengaged fromclutchface 112, gear 107 will float on shaft 26 "andmodification,without departing'from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not'wishifis tobelimited to the precise details of construc- 'tion setforth, but desire to avail myself of such variations andmodifications'as come within'the scope of the appended claims; il-laving thus described my invention what 1611 claim asnew and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is: l

1'. A mechanical toycomprising a pair of ver-' tical shafts mounted forvertical movement, a character in the form of a prizefighter mountedfjg5on each of said shafts, means for moving said shafts simultaneously butalternately up and down, and means including portions having pivotalconnection with the feet of said characters the legs thereof intostanding and lfgg kneeling positions as the characters are moved,respectively, up and down.

2. A mechanical toy comprising a pair ofvertica1 shafts mounted forvertical movement, a

: down, means including portions having pivotal connection with the feetof said characters for flexing the legs thereof into standing andkneeling positions as the characters are moved, re-' .spectively, up anddown, and means associated withand operatively" connected to each ofsaid shafts for moving the arms of the character thereon when the sameis in standing positionj 3. A mechanical toy comprisingapair of verticalshafts mounted for vertical and rotatable movement, 'a character intheform of a prizefighter mounted on each of said shafts, means formoving said shafts simultaneously but alternate-" 1y up and down, meansincluding portions having pivotal connection with the feet of saidcharacters for flexing the legs thereof into standing and kneelingpositions as the characters are moved, respectively, up and down, andmeans associated with each of said shafts for imparting a limitedrotation or turning movement thereto when the character thereon is instanding position.

4. A mechanical toy comprising a pair of vertical shafts mounted forvertical and rotatable movement, a character in the form of aprizefighter mounted on each of said shafts, means for moving saidshafts simultaneously but alternately up and down, means includingportions having pivotal connection with the feet of said characters forflexing the legs thereof into standing and kneeling positions as thecharacters are moved, respectively, up and down, means'associated,witheach of said shafts for imparting a limited rotation or turningmovement thereto when the character thereon is in standing position, andmeans associated with and operatively connected to each of said shaftsfor moving the arms of the character thereon when the same is instanding position.

5. A mechanical toy comprising a pair of vertical shafts mounted forvertical and rotatable movement, a character in the form of aprizefighter mounted on each of said shafts, means for moving saidshafts simultaneously but alternately up and down, means includingportions having pivotal connection with the feet of said characters forflexing the legs thereof into standing and kneeling positions as thecharacters are moved, respectively, up and down, means associated witheach of said shafts for imparting a limited rotation or turning movementthereto when the character thereon is in standing position, a refereecharacter, a vertical shaft supporting the referee character, and meansassociated with the last-named means for effecting a turning movement ofthe referee character at certain times during the movements of theprizefighter characters.

ERNEST F. LEDBET'I'ER.

